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Why We Like Troubled Businesses

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Why is it much more common to write about troubled businesses than about those which are succeeding?

Lately, I’ve been spending a fair amount of time writing about the fate of troubled businesses.

Some troubled businesses I’ve written about are success stories; companies such as Best Buy who have gone to the brink of failure yet have turned themselves around and returned to profitability. Less happily, some of the businesses I’ve taken a look at, such as the American discount clothing retailer Loehmann’s, have been unable to right the ship and have headed into bankruptcy and liquidation.

And I’m not the only one who likes to write about the fate of troubled businesses. This particular topic seems to be something that business writers and publications seem to love to explore.

largest-bankruptcies-infographicJust take a look at ABC News from the United States. One of their biggest news articles lately was a look at seven troubled businesses which were once considered to be extremely famous brands. The list didn’t provide much information beyond informing readers of the continues problems faced by well-known chains and businesses such as Radio Shack, Blackberry, and Sears.

Likewise, last month the New York Times reminded everyone about the most recent problems facing the Japanese electronics giant Sony. Sony has been one of the darlings of the troubled businesses genre of news reporting, as they have been struggling to keep pace with the consumer electronics market for more than a decade now.

And those are just some of the easiest examples out there find; there are many others. So why are we so interested in stories about troubled businesses?

After all, in a way, it seems like something simply negative and depressing. Reading about how a once-mighty company such as Barnes and Noble or Sony has had to cut jobs, eliminate products, or even go into bankruptcy protection or full on liquidation is quite depressing. No one takes pleasure in people losing their jobs, or in storied companies ceasing to exist.

There are two main reasons why I think writers, myself included, like to focus on troubled businesses far more than successful ones.

The first reason is that we all have a bit of a sense of justice inside of us. When a city gets hit by a natural disaster we feel sad, because there is nothing they could have done to prevent it. But when a company fails, we can see that often times it is the fault of management. Capitalist society is all about earning success, not just having it handed to you. The smart companies survive, and the companies that fail to do the right thing fail. That is the way it should be.

Secondly and more practically, businesspeople like you and me always want to learn as much as we can about how to be successful and prosper in business. When we look at successful companies such as Facebook, we can’t really see what their success can teach us. But when we look at the mistakes troubled businesses have made, we can easily see what has happened, and how we can avoid those mistakes in the future.

So, although I would love to write about how every single business is growing and making money, that’s not what you really want to hear. You want to hear about why a company failed, and how you can make sure your businesses doesn’t share the same fate.

 

 

The post Why We Like Troubled Businesses appeared first on TheBiggestClearance.com BLOG.


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